How to be a Walkie P.A.

THAT’S what being a walkie PA is like.

As the walkie PA, your job is simple:

• Keep track of all the walkies, batteries, accessories, and chargers, and maintain a full inventory of these items.
• Attend to the (ever-changing) departmental needs of the crew during shooting.
• Maintain a hot/cold battery swap-out station on set (bags, milk-crate, etc.)  
• At the end of the show, collect and reassemble the walkie package and return it.

This all sounds simple on the surface. However, bear in mind that you are about as much in control of the walkies as a watermelon is in control of how many fluffy clouds are in the sky. And then the watermelon gets yelled at for letting so many fluffy clouds escape. In a manner of speaking.

Bottom line is that you are trying to control something that is inherently chaotic. But don’t let that stop you.

On a good show you will get one to two days for prepping the walkies. Anything less, barring emergencies or acts of God or independent projects with budgets of $0, is generally unacceptable. You may be able to negotiate your way out of zero prep days, but if a multi-million dollar show can’t afford a PA for a prep day to make sure their walkie package is properly looked after, it might not be the best show to work on.

Things You Will Need

• A 4-color pen
• A pocket sized notebook
• A hot/cold battery staging system. Recommended methods:
  • one green mesh bag (hot batteries)
  • one red mesh bag (cold batteries) OR
  • one big milk crate, one interior side painted green and the other side (divided by a barrier) painted red (cold)
• Extra white gaff tape
• Sharpies
• Personalized sign-out sheets
• Personalized weekly inventory sheet(s)
• Your master inventory spreadsheet (hand written or on a laptop)
• The patience of a saint
• A strong sense of humor

STEP 1: Prep

• Your ADs will tell you when your prep days are. When you have a date, a time, and a place, arrive early and introduce yourself to the Production Office staff and your ADs. Ask where would be best for you to set up, and where to find the walkie package from Whichever Walkie Company LLC. You’ll also need a crew list, white gaff tape, and a sharpie. Ideally the office can help you with these.
• Talk to your ADs about what you should use for an on-set battery box. They may have ideas already, they might have you order one from the Production Office, or you might be free to make your own. This box you will carry with you every day and will have hot/cold sections for batteries, extra battery chargers for set, and sometimes important paperwork. Each show will be different so check in with your ADs on their preferences.
• Drag everything into your assigned room and open it all up. Pull out all charger banks, plug them in, and fill them with batteries. It can take all day to get every battery to green, so start this first. Don’t forget to remove the batteries from the walkies and charge them too. Set aside an empty pelican case to toss your green batteries into until your battery box is ready.
• While batteries charge, do a full inventory check of all equipment against the sheet from the rental company, down to each serial number. Everything on that sheet should be in front of you. This is the sheet they’ll use at the end of the show, weeks/months from now, after chaos has occurred, to make sure you’ve returned everything. If anything is missing on your first check, alert the Production Office immediately so you won’t be held accountable for equipment you never received.
• Everything is accounted for? Great! Begin your Master Inventory List (the first of many) of walkie numbers. You can use our Walkie Inventory Template or design your own, just be sure to make your system work best for you. In your own handwriting, or on your own spreadsheet, list all of the walkie serial numbers down a column of the sheet.
• Add white gaff tape strips to every walkie face. These will become your name/dept labels. Screw in each antenna.
• If your ADs didn’t give you a list of how many walkies go to each department, take out your crew list and start contacting department heads to ask them how many (core) walkies they’ll need for run of show. This does not include daily additional crew, just their base crew number. Also ask if any will require their own charging bank for their truck. The AD office will need at least one charger, and your on-set battery box will need at least 2. Write all of this down for easy transfer onto your master inventory spreadsheet. (Do not forget Rigging Electric and Rigging Grips).

The Walkie Numbers

Rough numerical breakdown of departments that get walkies and the channels they typically inhabit, knowing that each region and show can be different:

Department	Channel	# of Walkies
Production (A.D.s and P.A.s)	1	10
Locations	1	4
Wardrobe	1	3
Props	4	4
On-Set Scenic	1 or 4	1
On-Set Dresser	1 or 4	1
Camera	10	6
Electric	7	6
Grip	5	6
Transpo	16	10

• Once you have your counts for every department, check the total numbers against your inventory. You’ll want a healthy amount of backup walkies (10-15) for day to day operations. Do you have enough walkies for the run of show? Take your totals to your 2nd AD or 2nd 2nd AD to verify that walkies won’t run out at any point in the schedule.

Your inventory matches the order sheet, you have your dept totals, your batteries are charging, your walkies have prelabels and antennae. It’s time to assign walkies!:

• So you have the walkie numbers listed in one column. Other columns should be “Department/Name,” and “Accessories.” Write name/depts on the walkie faces, and input who you’ve assigned to each walkie in the corresponding number and crew name on your master walkie spreadsheet. Keep the departments bundled together for ease of distribution later.
• Print and fill out Walkie Signout Sheets for each bundle in preparation for distribution (this is usually a bit of theater, but can help you down the line if a department loses a walkie and you can show that they signed out the specific number). Don’t worry about this step in your day-to-day operations once filming has started, it will be too chaotic. You’ll want to take copious notes in your pocket sized notebook during that time.
• At this point, you have (x) amount of charged walkies, labeled accordingly, (y) amount of charged batteries, and a personalized signout sheet ready to go. Now you are prepped!

STEP 2: Distribution

• On the last day of prep before filming, or first thing on the morning of Day 1 of filming, deliver all walkie bundles to the crew. Each department should be signed for by one representative of that department, and keep those signed sheets somewhere safe. Those crew members will end up being the same person you go to each day to discuss future walkie needs. It will most likely be the Co-Captain from Transpo, Best Boys from Grip and Electric, the Asst Prop Master, and the Second AC or the Loader. Grip and Electric may require more on certain days depending on the type of work (i.e. big night shots – more electric walkies, big day shots – more grips, etc.) This is something you will be checking on a daily basis.
• Organize your pelican cases. If you don’t need to take some to set, ask the office to store them for you. It’s less likely they’ll be lost over the course of filming if they stay in the office.
• Prepare for Day 1 of Filming. Read your call sheet and script. Know where you’re going and when, and the day’s plan.

STEP 3: Filming

Day 1 of Production for a Walkie PA can be very chaotic. Have your pocket notebook with you and write down everything that changes hands after your initial distribution. You won’t have time to carry your master spreadsheet around, so take good notes to input later, after the chaos.

• Get breakfast early. Chaos is coming. At your call time, hit up all dayplayers with walkies where needed. Log the names and numbers into your pocket notebook. As dayplayers wrap, you’ll want to get their walkie back before they leave.
• Get to know your crew fast. A film crew is up and running by crew call, some well before crew call, and will want to be communicating over walkie ASAP. People will demand walkies without checking with their departments, or without you knowing who they are. It is your job to know who you’re giving equipment to, so don’t let anyone pressure you without giving you the information you need in return.
• Place your battery box, stocked with green batts & paperwork, on set by crew call and set up your chargers somewhere inconspicuous (always check with the Electric dept before plugging anything in). Your Key PA can help find a good spot for these things.
• If your 1st AD is the type to not take their walkie home, be on the lookout for them as soon as they land. Their walkie is likely the first thing they will want besides breakfast.
• Keep green batteries stocked, and red batteries on the chargers. Carry green batteries with you. Get to know the dying “chirp” of the walkies.
• Check your battery box often. It’s your responsibility to keep batteries green and walkies working, allowing the crew to communicate with each other.
• Settle in! Your day could be anything. Covering a camera, swapping bricks, bringing water, locking up a street, making trips to the office, helping escort BG to/from set, gaffing vans; it’s really a mixed bag depending on your AD department and how they like to run things. Be ready for anything and keep the green bricks plentiful. If you have to leave a lockup to check batteries, check with your Key PA first.
• As dayplayers are wrapped, get their walkies back. If they are coming back tomorrow and you can spare it, they can keep it, just add them to your master spreadsheet until they return that walkie.
• Once the dust settles after Day 1, you’ll start getting broken walkie equipment to swap out. Every time this happens it needs to be noted in multiple places (your master spreadsheet, the PR, the Production Office, etc), and with a corresponding Loss & Damage (L&D) form. Keep communication open during these equipment turn ins (with ADs and the Office). The faster you get bad equipment out, the sooner you get the replacement back.
• You will also be called upon to help “fix” people’s walkies, which, as someone that knows exactly zero about technical maintenance of a walkie, you will find very amusing. You often have to walk up to a crew member who is having the problem and say things like, “You see here? The headset isn’t plugged all the way in.” Or, “Ah…I see what the problem is. Your walkie is actually turned off.”
• PLAN AHEAD. During downtime, look at the upcoming schedule at least a week in advance. If you see big stunt days, or a day of 20 additional PAs, make sure your backup “slush” supply will suffice. If you think you’ll be short, talk with your 2nd AD about ordering another small package for those bigger days. The night before is too late to realize you don’t have enough walkies for tomorrow. Always know what to expect in the coming days.
• END OF EACH DAY: Charge all cold batteries overnight. If you’re moving locations, pack up your battery box and chargers for travel. Ask your Key PA how to transport your battery box if you don’t know. Collect dayplayer walkies. Add any necessary notes from your notebook to your master spreadsheet. By day 45 you’re not going to remember why walkie #4356 was turned in on day 2 and is now missing. Your notes/spreadsheet will remember for you – that it was sent to the office as damaged and you got walkie #1245 back as replacement. We can’t stress this enough—take organized notes on EVERYTHING related to that walkie package.
• Rinse and repeat for the run of your show. Take good notes and keep track of everything that changes hands or is sent back and received. It will all come back to help you during the final wrapout.

STEP 5: Wrapout

Hopefully you will get a wrap day, but even if you don’t, the end of the night on the last day will be absolute mayhem. Walkies will be simply coming at you from everywhere, and you may need another PA to help you. As they come in, make sure you’re spread out, ideally in your own honeywagon room. In a perfect world, they all come in and they get checked off, then you spend a nice calm day in the office organizing the package and recovering those walkies that didn’t make it in at the end of the night (Location guys that left early, random Teamsters, etc.) Sometimes, in reality, the entire walkie package will be thrown at you in a big box and you have a few hours to untangle the mess. Here is where your notes are crucial.

Reverse the process of Prep

• Check returned walkies off on your spreadsheet, and the original inventory list from the rental company wayyy back in prep. Account for everything.
• Call people you’re missing walkies or accessories from. Try to track them down to return them.
• Pull labels off, take off antennae
• Repack the pelican cases
  MAKE IT LOOK LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED FOR THE RENTAL COMPANY.
• Report to the UPM, the Office, and your ADs what is missing and where you think it is, along with your attempts to retrieve the missing equipment.
• Things will go missing. Ideally your detailed note taking will have helped you track everything for the entire run of show and you can pass that info to the office so you’re not being called in 3 months about a missing walkie from 2 shows ago.

Important Random Notes

• In your total walkie count, you should have a batch of free, unassigned walkies known as the “Slush.” These are the walkies that will be utilized for random things on the day, i.e., set medics, picture cars, Stunts, driving shots, random other crew members that appear (Greens, Special FX, etc.)
• You should always carry 2-3 hot batteries on your belt. The more you can get your ear attuned to the sound of a dead battery chirping near you, the better off you’ll be. You should always be the first to deliver a hot battery to someone and getting the dead one in return, knowing that this is not always possible. Never hand out a battery without getting a dead one back.
• Grips, Electrics and sometimes Camera will probably want a six-bank charger on their respective trucks. You should hopefully get about 5 or 6 six-bank chargers, and 2 or 3 should stay in the production room of the honeywagon as the main base. Make sure there is always a supply of batteries charging there, for the Teamsters and base camp folks that don’t get to set.
• Make sure you are working closely each day with the DGA trainee/paperwork person and the 2^nd AD regarding the manpower needs for the next day. Don’t get caught needing 20 walkies that you don’t have.
• In that vein, there are always people that have walkies that may not always need them. Know who your emergency back-pocket walkie people are that you could, in a pinch, pull from (folks like producer’s assistants, craft service, etc.). The medic is never an appropriate person to pull a walkie from.

Good luck, and don’t lose anything! (Walkies, batteries, accessories, your sanity…)

Resources

• Find more useful checklists and templates for the Walkie PA position on our GoForResources pages.
• Check our Jobs page for ways to connect to shows that are hiring